The New Castle in Hrodna was erected near the Old Castle by order of the Polish King and the Grand Duke of Lithuania August III. It was supposed to become the summer residence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth leaders.

After the Old Castle was badly damaged during the Great Northern War, it was decided to build a new palace, which was named the New Castle. It was conceived as a royal residence and a place for holding general seims of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Construction was carried out from 1737 to 1742 in the time of August III. The building of the New Castle was proportionate and majestic, built in the late Baroque style. Due to the fact that the palace was built opposite the Old Castle, the name New Castle was assigned to it. The architects managed to combine the Old and New castles into one palace complex.

The first general Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the New Castle in 1744, and the last ("dumb") Sejm was held there in 1793. On the last Sejm the Russian authorities forced delegates to approve the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanislaŭ Aŭhust Paniatoŭski, signed an act of abdication in the New Castle in 1795, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was finally divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia. During the Russian Empire times, the building of the New Castle housed a cadet corps and then a military hospital.

The building of the New Castle was badly damaged in 1944 during the battles for Hrodna. In the post-war period the castle was restored and adapted for Soviet administrative institutions. In 1991, the palace was transferred to the Ministry of Culture. Today the castle houses a historical and archaeological museum and a scientific library.

Publication date: 20.08.2020.

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